Tuesday, January 31, 2012

my granny was always such a fun gal. she lived her life like it was a big party and she was just lucky to get invited. she was witty, honest and freaking hilarious. she went on cruises and swam in clear waters and drank champagne, and she was always dressed in her best.

her jewelry collection was huge, filled with pieces that came from everywhere from home shopping network to ones passed down to her from her mother. no matter where they were from, they all added glam to her outfits. all of the pieces she has passed to me, my sister and my two cousins, becca and katie, all mean a lot to us because they were hers. and whether she was dressed in her everyday clothes or ready for a cruise cocktail hour, you can bet your last cigarette that she could turn heads.

i feel like she did so much when she was alive, half of which i know i'm not even aware. she worked at Owen-Illinois Glass Company for years, and played on a winning bowling league, and at some point purchased an old video camera, because my brother discovered about 30 old, silent home videos and a projector with a screen in her attic. and he figured out how to get it to work, and we watched some of them. it was like we were watching her life.

i wore one of granny's brooches in my hair on friday, and another one on my belt on saturday. taylor, becca, kaitlyn and i all carried some of her old handkerchiefs on saturday. taylor wore a pair of granny's earrings. becca and katie wore necklaces she had given them. my mother wore one of her old dresses.

the services and everything were so draining and long. and such a blur. like i was in some sort of coma and woke up later. on the way back to tennessee, i realized that i had unknowingly picked my fingernails to bits and have hangnails that are so sore that it hurts to even type this, and i've rubbed my eyes so much that they hurt, and i have a very persistent headache that i'm only just becoming aware of.

it makes me sad to think about what i won't be able to share with her now. although her spirit will be there, she won't physically be there to see me get married, or becca's first prom dress, or casey's graduation. i realize that most people don't even get to share anything with their great-grandparents, but i did and there's always a part of you that thinks these people will just be with you forever.

as much as my family and i are grieving, when it comes down to it, all that really matters is whether you laughed a lot and were loved. i did and i was because of her and the other women in my family. i am just lucky to have had someone like her in my life at all. i'll miss her wit, her glam, and her laughter.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

i'm finally back in tennessee after a week-long trip home. it wasn't originally supposed to be that long, but after my doctor called in sick (yes, i guess they can get sick, too), i had to reschedule my appointment and stay a few extra days. i got to spend some extra time with my family, though, so that's always nice.

as soon as i got back to west virginia, kyle got really sick. so even though i felt bad about not being with him when he was sick, i was also glad i wasn't around all the germs. i'm not trying to get sick again. i've had enough of that this year already. but, little brady had a nice message for kyle.

and as for the doctor…it was good news. the problems i was having over the summer are finally subsiding, it seems, and even though i'll have to go for check ups every so often, my tests came back looking better and i can go back to my semi-normal life. yay!

during the trip home, i was able to visit people, go to see my brother and his friends win the skit contest at the St. Joe Invitational, paint pottery with my brother and cousin, becca, and see the saddest movie (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) with my siblings. lots of fun.

kelli & fisher :)

pottery place with casey & becca :)

yep.

met taylor for starbucks

even though i was staying at my family's house, i still tried to keep up with running. however, the first day i ran while there, i thought i would die. it was so bitterly cold, i was in pain. apparently i didn't bring enough clothes to run in the west virginia weather, but it was not fun. i repeated day 2 of week 2 of the program, though, and it was a bit better the second time. i'm sure it was because it wasn't 20 degrees outside that time.

day 1. so cold. almost froze to death.

day 2. way better.

i'm hoping to get back into my routine now that i'm back in tennessee, and i'm already looking forward to spring, while kyle is still holding onto christmas. there are pine needles everywhere because our poor tree is dead, and he bought a candle on sale that's called "home for christmas." this is my life. ;)

pretty much i wanted to vom after we ate so much. but it was all delicious and we had leftovers for today.

now about the golden globes themselves.

the fashion was pretty great. some favorites...

angelina jolie. i mean. seriously.

charlize theron. love the pale pink.

diane lane. freaking love this gold.

emma stone. i'm obsessed with her.

heidi klum. come. on.

jessica alba. gorgeous.

julianna margulies. i know it's a weird dress,but i love the sleeves and the brightearrings with the ponytail.

kate winslet. she does no wrong. love her.

kristen wiig. so chic in nude.

nicole kidman. a lot of people didn't like this dress,but i love the hardware.

reese freaking witherspoon. get it, girl.

zooey deschanel. i loved the weirdness of this dress,and her nails were painted with tuxedos,so i just love her even more.

george clooney. ugh. so beautiful.

gerard butler. i love a good bowtie and some scruff.and basically everything about gerard butler.

seth rogan. he's just too cute to leave out.

my glee peeps were also looking rather wonderful...

amber riley. gorgeous in red.

chris colfer. adorbs.

dianna agron. i died.

lea michelle. died again.

mark salling. seriously.

naya rivera. so freaking beautiful.

although i did like most of the fashion, i wasn't as satisfied with the chosen winners. i know that there are always a lot of people who deserve it (blah blah blah), but i like for people the win when i want them to. just like sports fans like their teams to win. but whatever.

my favorite wins of the night were…

Kate Winslet for Mildred Pierce — Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris — Best Screenplay

Octavia Spencer for The Help — Best Supporting Actress

Octavia was probably my favorite speech of the night. she deserved it so much, and i was so happy she won.

i am rather disappointed about the winner of Best Picture, though. i loved The Descendants and i will love George Clooney forever. but…The Help deserved that one. the end.

i also really wish Zooey Deschanel would have won for New Girl or Amy Pohler for Parks and Recreation for Best Actress in a TV Musical or Comedy. they are two of my favessss.

also, these ladies are some of my newest favorites to watch…

Jessica Chastain

Shailene Woodley

Melissa McCarthy

and as for Ricky Gervais…i think he is super funny, but i wasn't as impressed with his jokes this year. i was more tickled over Madonna's joke to him about her being "just like a virgin." and the fact that Elton Johnwas so pissed he didn't win after making a joke about Madonna not having "a f***ing chance" that it ruined his whole night. too funny. anyway.

i'm already getting excited for the big show with Oscar and all his friends. should be another fun show with even more food and fashion. fun!

and since we gorged ourselves last night, i definitely couldn't skip my run today. i went back to fountain city park for week 2 day 1 of the couch to 5K program. it was cold, but not paralyzing. and i walked a lot before finishing my run because my sister called and we had a nice chat/gossip session. i don't know if i should skip two days in a row of running, though, because today seemed more difficult. we'll see. i have an hour of turbofire on the schedule for tomorrow, so i'm sure i'll want to die by wednesday.

chocolate milk fix after running

i'll be back in WV for a few days this week for a couple of appointments, so keep me in your thoughts. hopefully i can get some stuff sorted out. and possibly have some starbucks with you. call me!

Friday, January 13, 2012

i'm on day three of the couch-to-5K. still going strong, but omg. so. sore. probably has something to do with me running three days a week, then doing turbofire on the other days. ouch. but whatev.i'm on a mission, beyotches. the holidays really throw you off your groove, i'll tell you that much.

when you're alone at a park, you can mouth the words to Mariah Carey songs shamelessly.

on wednesday, i was sort of off, because i went to this park i was pointed to by one of kyle's co-workers. well, yeah it was beautiful, and it would be great if kyle was with me. but it was on top of a huge mountain, i was all alone (seriously. saw like 3 people the whole time i was there.) and the greenway was leading me into the woods. point of the story? i've watched too many episodes of law and order: svu to go running by myself. i'm not trying to get pulled into the woods by a mad man. so i just ran in the empty parking lot. still got the job done. then as soon as i got to my car when i finished, it started to rain. i got in the car and then came a huge, scary storm that i was sure was going to blow my little red jetta right off the mountain. so i got the heck out of there.

today, i needed to run again. but, winter finally decided to show her fugly face, and it was frigid outside oustide.

winter's fugly face aka frozen windshield

home dry erase illustration

so rather than freeze to death because i have yet to purchase a proper running jacket, or skip the run altogether, i decided to run in my house. you can imagine how ridiculous this looked, but i really didn't feel like leaving the house yet, so i improvised. our little house's layout makes a circle, so it was easy to make "laps." yes, it was super boring as far as scenery goes, but i did get to catch a glimpse at the tv as i passed through the living room each time. trade offs, i guess. i'll brave the cold some other day. promise.

running indoors today. probably made 100 laps around my house.

only nikes for us. sorry, other brands.

i'm not sure how much our little "workout jar" has collected yet, but i know that i have put in more than i actually had to. not like cheating, but when i was really sweaty i put in a dollar instead of 50 cents. one week closer to my lululemon jacket?!

i'm hoping kjd and i get to see some good movies this weekend. and don't forget about the golden globes on sunday. there's a possibility pinterest might be inspiring some awards show snack options for us. hope you have a wonderful/warm weekend. :)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

the Golden Globes are coming up, people. and if you know anything at all about me, kyle or the weird world we live in, you know that movie awards season is like our football season and the Oscars are like our SuperBowl. and i guess that would make the Golden Globes some kind of championship. i don't watch football, but whatever it is, i'm sure tim tebow would be involved. please don't hate me for my sports ignorance. anyway, here is a list of all the nominees, with my favorites in bold./////////////////////////////////////////////////Best Picture — Drama

The Descendants

The Help

Hugo

The Ides of March

Moneyball

War Horse

Best Actress — Drama

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Actor — Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Picture — Comedy/Musical

50/50

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Midnight in Paris

My Week With Marilyn(obviously i couldn't pick a favorite in this category. i loved all of these. seriously.)

Best Actress — Comedy/Musical

Jodie Foster, Carnage

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Kate Winslet, Carnage

Best Actor — Comedy/Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Animated Feature

The Adventures of Tintin

Arthur Christmas

Cars 2

Puss in Boots

Rango

Best Foreign Language Film

The Flowers of War (China)

In the Land of Blood and Honey (US)

The Kid with a Bike (Belgium)

A Separation (Iran)

The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Jessica Chastain, The Help

Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Director

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

George Clooney, The Ides of March

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Martin Scorsese, Hugo(loved all of these, too, so i refuse to pick a favorite. sorry.)

the ones without anything chosen is because i haven't seen them. and the ones with more than one chosen, well, i have a hard time deciding when i love everything. sorry. i hope you all watch the Golden Globes on sunday, at least for the fashion. should be fun. you can also see the official list here, where i copied it from. check it out. go watch some movies and good tv.

hello, there

i'm from huntington, west virginia, but living in knoxville, tennessee right now, and trying to figure out my crazy life. i love sewing, taking photos and basically anything else creative. i'm obsessed with paper and all things that can be done with it, and polaroid cameras are wonderful things. i love listmaking, the feel of sunshine and anything old or vintage. i'm a huge fan of lady gaga and miranda lambert. i dislike weird animals like squirrels, how the small of your back sweats when it's hot and anything that uses comic sans font. i have a degree in print journalism with a minor in graphic design - and yes, i know i don't capitalize everything correctly. it's because i don't really like capital letters. kyle dyer is my person and we are getting married next year. he inspires me, makes up songs for me, makes me laugh even when i don't feel like laughing and knows that iced tea can get you through anything. he is wonderful and i try to never take what we have for granted. i hope to share some ideas, inspirations and creations through this blog. enjoy!

my person

LemonDropp?

one day when kyle and i first started dating, i wore this bright yellow dress. he called me "lemon drop" and ever since then, it has been this sort of random nickname for me, even if i'm not wearing yellow. hence, the name of this blog. i also really like lemons.